Garage door construction



June 18, 1940. w, FER s 2,204,852

GARAGE DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 26, 1936 Patented June 18, 1940- PATENT OFFICE GARAGE noon CONSTRUCTION William D. Ferris, Sterling, Ill., assignor to Frantz Manufacturing 00., Sterling, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application August 26, 1936, Serial No. 97,876

' 2 Claims.

This invention relates to garage doors, and more particularly to those that swing open into an overhead position.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved construction and arrangement whereby-a garage door of this kind, composed of one rigid section, is movable about a fixed horizontal axis extending parallel with the doorway, into a substantially horizontal position overhead, a distance above said axis, so that the opening movement of the door is upward and inwardly through the doorway, about anaxis that is not only fixed relatively to the doorway, but alsorelatively to the door itself.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction and combinations tending to increase the general efiiciency and desirability of a garage door construction of this particular character.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, the invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is an inside elevation of a garage door construction involving the principles of the invention, showing the side walls of the building in vertical section.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

Fig. 3 isa similar vertical section, showing the door in open position.

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises a doorway I formed in any suitable or desired manner, at the front of the garage building, and a door 2 for closing the doorway, said door comprising only a single rigid section.

A channel-iron; is rigidly fastened to the inner side of the door and is provided with bolt holes or slots 4 at intervals in the length thereof, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. Right angle channel-irons 5 each have one arm thereof held in the channel of the beam 3, as shown, by bolts 6, these right angle channel-irons being provided with holes 1 for said bolts, which latter are insert- 45 ed through the holes or slots 4 previously mentioned, whereby the right angle members 5 can drawing, whereby the door 2 is adapted to swing upward and inwardly of the doorway, into a sub stantially horizontal overhead position, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, about a horizontal axis that is parallel with the doorway, and that is fixed not only relatively to the building, but also relatively to the door itself, as the two right angle 5 members 5 are rigid with the door, and hence the axis provided by the pivots 9 is absolutely fixed relatively to the building and also the door. The parallel arms 8 are provided with holes III for engagement with a link or suitable connection II, 10'

one for each arm 8, and coil springs I2 are connected to these elements I I and to overhead hooks or other connecting means I3 rigidly fastened to the building. It will be seen that these springs are stretched when they are in the position shown in Fig. 2, and that hence their tension is of assistance in raising the door into its overhead position, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. shown, the door 2 moves inwardly and upwardly until its lower portion engages the under side of the top portion of the doorway at I4, thus limiting the opening movement of the door. From this position the door can easily be pulled downward and the tension of the springs is such that the door will gently reach its closed position, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, and in this position any suitable locking means can be used for latching or locking the door in closed position. By moving the links or'other connecting means II from one hole III to another,'the tension of the springs can be regulated to insure the desired effect. I

Thus a comparatively simple and inexpensive construction of garage door is provided, in which the door swings upwardly and inwardly, about a fixed axis, so that the door is substantially horizontal and in an overhead position when it is open. The open position of the door is such that a motor vehicle may move in and out of the garage, underneath the door, and the construction 40 is such that only a minimum of space is necessary between the inner side of the door and the motor vehicle, in order to permit opening of the doorwhilethe vehicle is inside of the garage.

The pivotal mounting for the door is of such nature that it can be easily adjusted for doors of different widths and for other situations, whereby the said pivotal mounting does not need to be made in different sizes, but to the contrary may be made in onesize only, for doors of different sizes, and for doors difl'erently located relatively to the sides of the building.

It will be seen that the arms 8 serve as levers of the third order, for applying the tension of the springs I2'for lifting the door into-overhead open position, but serve as levers of the second order, with the weight of the door as the power, for overcoming the tension of said springs when the door is moved downward into closed position. It will also. be seen that the door is approximately, if not exactly, in balanced condition about the horizontal axis 9, when in open position, and that at such time the door is practically entirely within the building, with the lower end portion of thedoor bearing against the under side of the top of the door frame, whereby the latter serves as a stop to limit the opening movement of the door, with only a negligible portion of the door outside the doorway. Thus the levers formed by the arms 8 are rigid with the door, and the axis 9 is horizontal and parallel with the inner side of the door, and is fixed relatively to the latter, as well as to the building, as there is no relative movement between this axis and the door, or between the axis and the building. The entire pivotal mounting for the door is wider than the doorway, so that the arms 8 are desirably a distance apart, for any size door, greater than the width of the doorway. Also, the springs l2, being connected to the arms 8, are also spaced a distance apart that is substantially greater than the width of the doorway. In this way, a motor vehicle, while entering the garage under the open door, is not liable to be damaged by scraping against anything at either side thereof.

It will be seen that the bolts 15 serve to bolt the middle section 3 of the frame directly to the back of the door, substantially midway between the top and bottom thereof. With this construction, the door and its supporting frame structure can be assembled in various ways. If desirable, in some cases the entire supporting frame can be assembled and bolted to the door, by the removable bolts 6 and I5, and the door can then be placed in position in the doorway, and the pivotal supports 9 can then be secured in place on the walls of the building, the frame having been adjusted to extend the necessary or desired distance beyond the two vertical sides of the doorway. Or, obviously, the two adjustable end sections of the frame with their arms 8 can be suitably mounted on the sides of the building, through the medium of the said pivotal mountings 9, and the middle section 3 can then be applied to the end sections 5, either before or after the bolts I5 are inserted through this middle section and the door, and the bolts 6 can then be inserted to removably bolt the door to the overlapping portions of the sections 5 and 3 of the structurally distinct and unitary frame thus provided.

Obviously, the frame which is thus rigidly but adjustably bolted to the back or inside of the door forms the sole support for the door when the latter is in its overhead open position. Thus the necessity for any overhead tracks is obviated, and the door is free to swing back and forth be-. tween its closed and open position without being controlled by tracks or guides or any means other than the said frame and the springs shown and described. In this way, a rigid but adjustable frame, adjustable in width, is rigidly secured to the inside or back of the door, and the latter thus has movement about only one horizontal axis,

which is the axis provided by the pivots 9 for the rigid supporting arms.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a garage construction of the class wherein a door is mounted to swing bodily from a vertical closed position to overhead horizontal open position, the combination of means mounting said door in the front wall of the garage, said means being adjustable to different door and front wall widths and comprising a sectional frame including a center channel iron having its web bolted horizontally across the inside of the door and end channel irons telescopically adjustable thereon and secured in adjustable relation to the center channel iron by bolts passing through openings in the engaged part of said irons including slotted openings and extending beyond the ends thereof and each terminating in a rearwardly directed right angle rigid arm, and means for pivotally mounting each of said arms on the adjacent garage side wall so that the door is movable about vsaid pivots into an overhead open position with said frame forming the sole and only support for the door when the latter is in said open position, thereby obviating the use of tracks for the door while providing adjustability of the frame on the door, the telescoping portions of the center and end channel irons and the bolts therein forming means by which said arms are made absolutely rigid with the door, with a plurality of bolt holes in each end channel iron, so that the bolts in the telescoping portions may be differently positioned in accordance with the adjusted distance between said arms,obviating any pivotal action between the arms and the'door.

2. In a garage construction of the class wherein a door is mounted to swing bodily from a vertical closed position to overhead horizontal open position, the combination of means mounting said door in the front wall of the garage, said means being adjustable to different door and front wall widths and comprising a sectional frame including a center channel iron having its web bolted horizontally across the inside of the door and end channel irons telescopically adjustable thereon and secured in adjustable relation to the center channel mm by bolts passing through openings in the engaged part of said irons including slotted openings and extending beyond the ends thereof and each terminating in a rearwardly directed right angle rigid arm, and means for pivotally mounting each of said arms on the adjacent garage side wall so that the door is movable about said pivots into an overhead open position with said frame forming the sole and only support for the door when the latter is in said open position, thereby obviating the use of tracks for the door while providing adjustability of the frame on the door, in which the center channel iron has the bolt slots, in the opposite end portions thereof, and the telescoping portions of the end channel irons have round bolt holes, with variable space between the ends of the telescoping portions of the end channel irons, in the channel of the center channel iron, so that the middle of the latter may have exposed bolts in fixed position on the door.

WILLIAM D. FERRlS. 

